Memories and Teachings
by Jayfeather's Friend
Summary: (Sequel to She calls To Me and Forever Reunited.) Alderheart returns to the Moonpool, reflecting on his fondest memories from his Mentor.


**A late Christmas present. Enjoy.**

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Alderheart padded up the slope leading to the Moonpool, his tired bones aching for rest, but he paid them no mind.

He wasn't the same cat he was thirty moons ago. The same cat that broke down in tears when he couldn't save those he cared for. The same cat that lost it when his mentor perished.

He heard the sound of a raven cawing as he got closer to the top. It filled him with nostalgia, and he padded faster up the slope.

When he got there, the Moonpool was already shining. The crescent moon was upside down, giving the illusion that the stary sky was grinning.

Alderheart looked at the top to see his mentor, still watching the view ahead. Alderheart closed his eyes and shook his head.

When he looked back up there, His mentor was nowhere to be seen.

Alderheart smirked, climbing up the rocky slope. He lost his grip on one stone and slipped down to the bottom, but on the second try. He had made it to the top.

He smiled as he looked at the horizon. The crescent moon threw off the whole memory, the last couple of times it was always full. Slowly, he had grown his sense of Deja Vu again. From this spot he could see practically everything. From the their territory to the thunderpath at the end of the lake, right behind Riverclan's camp, and could see even farther. The Moon's light left nothing untouched, giving everything a bluish-white glow. He could see the soft waves of the Lake's tide, and he could see the river that went uphill. He turned to his side to see the mountains of which he had once traveled so far to get to. All for nothing. But eventually, something good came out of it.

"Hey Jayfeather," Alderheart began, looking at the stars "Sorry I'm late. I've been a bit...busier as of late. I'm sure you'd understand."

_"I don't care what you think is more important!" Jayfeather cuffed Alderpaw sharply on the head. The apprentice had been staring off at Sparkpelt worried for her health, and Jayfeather was NOT happy "In this den, the only life you should be concerned is saving the one in front of you! Get me more Watermint!"_

_"Y-yessir."_

_"You do this again, and I'll wring your neck so bad, you won't be seeing straight for DAYS!"_

Alderheart sighed "Of course you'd understand."

"I tried. It's been hard without you, but I tried. Sometimes I worry if age is catching up to me, and perhaps I'm forgetting some herbs. I've been looking for an apprentice, but no one has caught mine or Starclan's eyes. I hope one comes soon. I need a break."

"I hope you're doing well. Up there with your family. Squirrelstar is on her seventh life. I've been keeping count. She's probably gonna outlive me AND Sparkpelt."

_"Lives mean nothing. The only difference between us and Leaders is they can learn from fatal mistakes," Jayfeather stood over Alderheart sternly, as Bramblestar came to "We can't allow that Alderpaw. Next time Bramblestar gets sick, you treat it like you would treat any other clan mate. You never know if that Life makes all the difference in the future."_

Alderheart chuckled "Yeah...I know. You've told me."

The wind kipped at his ears and he shivered, huffing as another memory presented itself.

_"Rain or shine, you WILL be here Alderpaw," Jayfeather stood out in the rain, as Alderpaw shivered. They were there because Alderpaw was to cold to get out of his nest. Jayfeather had dragged him out and told him to stand there the whole time it rained. He gained a cold soon after, but Leafpool was kind enough to make him feel better. Jayfeather was more soaked then his apprentice, yet he let no signs that he was freezing. This only solidified Alderheart's belief that Jayfeather was a cold hearted bastard, while only one of those was proven true already._

"You know...you kind of sucked as a mentor. So authoritarian, never admitting when you were wrong," Alderheart frowned "All you ever did was treat your siblings when I earned my title. You ended up lazing about more often. I don't care if you earned it or not!"

_"JAYFEATHER! I NEED YOUR HELP!"_

_"Is the wound yellow?"_

_"NO!"_

_"Then you've done it before. Let me sleep, damn it."_

Alderheart growled "You also loved your riddles! Making me second guess everything just for a laugh! You loved watching me fail. Why?! Because I was the son of the cats you hated for lying to you? So what if you were my cousin, you HATED me! I know you did!"

_"I know what to do! We need some marig-"_

_"Nope," Jayfeather muttered._

_Alderpaw panicked and tried to remember as Jayfeather smirked "You doubted yourself."_

_"THAT'S NOT FUNNY! What if I fed them the wrong thing?!"_

_"Now you know never doubt your instincts. No one ever forgets things, instinct memorizes it."_

Alderheart sighed "Although, all of your mockery at me held a hint of lessons in them. Now I know to never doubt myself as a Medicine cat."

Alderheart shook his head "You didn't hate me. You loved me, in your own grouchy way. It was the other way around. I hated you. I didn't notice that you were such a great mentor until my time as an apprentice was almost over."

_Jayfeather snapped his head as his apprentice stormed off after what he just said "Where do you think you're going?"_

_"OUT! I need some air."_

_Jayfeather growled "Come back, I'm not done talking to you."_

_"You've said what you needed to say, NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!" Alderheart whipped his head back at Jayfeather, ears drawn back and his eyes in slits._

_Jayfeather hissed "If you think I'm not done with this, you're a bigger idiot then your father."_

_"RRRGGGHHHHH! Alderheart snapped, tackling Jayfeather to the ground, claws unsheathed "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO INSULT MY PARENTS!"_

_"They WERE my parents too. Guess how that ended."_

Alderheart sighed, feeling guilt over it as the memory faded "I didn't realize the emotional scars you had under your pelt that I just saw you as a jerk. When I found out, when we first came here, I realized how broken you were. How broken both of us were. The Bastard and the Mousebrain. Stars, it feels so long ago..."

_"I loved them all! I've lost them all! They are all my failures. The cats I could not save!" Jayfeather roared. After breathing heavily he turned his head. Alderheart didn't speak about it again._

_"Half Moon," Jayfeather said out of the blue fighting tears "Her name was Half Moon."_

_Alderheart nodded his head and sat in the silence._

"It's been two moons since I last spoke to you. I'm sorry, but Sparkpelt was dying. I needed to devote my attention to her. I know you'd understand, but I needed to apologize. I promised to speak to you every full moon. But I couldn't keep it. I'm sorry. But she was so sick. I couldn't let her die! She's my sister!"

_"Death is inevitable, Alderpaw. Even Leaders will die."_

Alderheart snarled "I mean, If it was Hollyleaf, wouldn't you have tried harder?"

No memories came up for that one.

"So you are cold hearted," Alderheart smirked.

"I'm also here...for another things. You may get a little pissed but...but it's for the best. I'm not gonna come visit you anymore. You've told me that eventually, I will move on, and honestly, I believe I have. I know I'm talking to nothing. I know that while you may be listening, you're not here. It'd be the same talking to you in my den. I think it's been quite long enough that I have visited this place just to mourn."

"_Part of being a medicine cat is knowing when to let go."_

_"I didn't help him."_

_"Sometimes you can't."_

Alderheart bit back the memory of Purdy, fighting tears. That memory still stung like hell, and he opened his eyes after several minutes "I know now that it was your time to move on. I shall keep the promise I made to you, all those moons ago. I will be strong. I will protect and save my clanmates. I will honor your teachings. All the bad days, and the pointless lessons that weren't so pointless in the end, I will honor them. I will raise my apprentice to honor them. And he will honor them as his apprentice will. You may be forgotten one day, but your lessons, your teachings, will live on for generations of Medicine cats yet to come."

Alderheart sighed, tears slipping out as he made ready to descent from the cliffside "So thank you...my mentor."

As Alderheart climbed down, a voice echoed throughout the Moonpool, reaching his ears like a harmony of songbirds.

_"You're welcome, My apprentice."_

Alderheart grinned.

But perhaps it was only his imagination.

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**This might be the last one of the Moonpool Moments. It might not be. Enjoy it.**


End file.
